The Light of Amsterdam

September 3, 2012
The streets, canals, and parks of Amsterdam play host to personal reckonings in Park’s remarkable new novel (after The Truth Commissioner). Alan, a recently divorced father, drags his teenage son, Jack, to the Dutch capital for a vacation in a bid to jump-start his post-marriage life; Marion accompanies her husband, Richard (whom she suspects has been unfaithful), to the city for a birthday getaway; and single mom Karen tags along for her daughter Shannon’s bachelorette party. Park eases into each character’s story, bringing their struggles, hopes, and loves into delicate relief as they wander through their thoughts and down the cobbled lanes of the wintry city. At once an amalgam of sensitive character studies, Park’s newest is also a gorgeous portrait of the Venice of the North—as Marion, Richard, Jack, et al. navigate their various desires and disappointments, each alights on some bit of beauty. Agent: Rachel Calder, the Sayle Agency.

September 15, 2012
Three insecure souls spend a weekend in Amsterdam grappling with family problems; the eighth novel from this Northern Irish writer (The Truth Commissioner, 2008, etc.). All three are natives of Belfast. Some brief encounters aside, they move on separate tracks. Alan is a middle-aged teacher at an art college. A visit to Amsterdam in his youth proved liberating. Now, he is returning for a Dylan concert, his 16-year-old son, Jack, in tow (Alan is recently divorced). Karen is a cleaning lady. This is her first time outside Ulster. She's part of a hen party celebrating her daughter Shannon's forthcoming wedding. Marion has come with her husband, Richard. They're the middle-aged owners of a successful nursery business and Christmas-tree farm. The trip is Richard's birthday treat for her, along with a gym membership. Is he telling her to get in shape? Deeply insecure and suspecting he's about to cheat on her, Marion sends a hooker to their hotel room to give him a more exciting outlet. Never mind that her plan defies marital psychology and common sense. As for Karen, she's been insecure since being dumped by her boyfriend when she was three months pregnant, some 20 years before. Only in Amsterdam does she find out by chance that her daughter has invited that nefarious ex to give her away; the news revives all her bitterness and self-pity. There's no equivalent drama for Alan. Memories keep dragging the principals back into their pasts, and Amsterdam has no transformative effect on them. Dreary people in a vibrant city.

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July 1, 2012

Park's (The Truth Commissioner) latest novel is crafted around three people from Belfast who are visiting Amsterdam at the same time but for very different reasons. The reader first meets Alan, a divorced father and university art professor trying to reconnect with his disaffected teenage son. Next is Karen, a working-class single mother reluctantly accompanying her daughter on a hen-party weekend they can hardly afford. The third and oldest character is Marion, a long-married wife on a short holiday with her husband away from their garden-center business. This is a novel about people, about feelings, thoughts, and struggles, and Park does an excellent job of developing the characters and making the reader care about them. As the novel develops, readers might find themselves identifying with one character, only to find they are most touched by another later on. VERDICT This might not appeal to readers of fast-paced action or mystery novels, but it is a humane and touching read, well worth a try for those who have not read Park's previous work. Fans of Irish fiction should also take note.--Shaunna Hunter, Hampden-Sydney Coll. Lib., VA

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